So over the last few months, I have steadily been uploading art videos and demonstrations to YouTube. While this has been a lot of fun, it has also come with quite a bit of work and distraction. Unfortunately, it has become less and less fun for me, and I have a strict “if it doesn’t make me happy than don’t do it” policy. So, today I decided that I was no longer doing any more instructional videos. I have a lot of other projects going on, and my graduate school schedule is getting pretty full.

I will still upload very short no nonsense videos for those that just like to see the process. I appreciate all the kind words an support of the channel, but I have other priorities and need to focus elsewhere.

I often get asked if I can show how I would create a painting using less expensive craft paints. Last week I did a demonstration using Anita’s All Purpose Acrylic Paints. These were inexpensive and easy to use. I had some beautiful results, and after finishing the piece off with epoxy resin, it was spot on. This week I am trying out Folk Art Paints by PLAID.

PLAID makes a lot of excellent craft products from Mod Podge to glues to different craft paints like the Folk Art and Apple Barrel. According to their website, the Apple Barrel and Folk Art paints are UV stable and stay true indoors and outdoors. I sent a request for more information regarding how light fast the paint is and below is what they responded to me with:

Thank you for your inquiry. FolkArt Acrylic Colors and FolkArt Outdoor PaintPigments have been rated highly resistant to fading.

Paints are rated on a light-fastness scale that runs from 1 to 5.

1=Excellent2=Very good3=Good4=Fair5=Poor

All of the FolkArt Acrylic Colors and FolkArt Outdoor Paints are rated Excellent orVery Good (1 or 2). These paints are made from some of the purest pigment available,which results in its superior quality. Unfortunately, FolkArt Paints do not contain any U/V inhibitors. Thank you for contacting Plaid,

In addition to the paints I am often asked if torching a paint is really necessary. Well, I am in no place to decide what an artist does to create their work so I can’t really say what is necessary. The two pours done in the video are both excluding a torch. There are times when I will try it but in most cases I don’t torch simply because I don’t want to torch.

For the video attached, I did two different pours. The first pour was a request to use one of my recipes using Floetrol, paint, alcohol, and silicone. I did this painting with no intention of torching the paint as I wanted to show how you can get an overload of cells without adding heat to the paint. The second pour is using one of my recipes that I use a lot. The recipe used was simply Floetrol, Paint, and alcohol. Both give unique results, and it is really up to the artist to decide what they like. Below I have a list of the products I used as well as the recipes I used to create them. Both of these pieces are available on my Etsy page which supports the YouTube channel.

Recipe 1 – 6X6 Square Panel (These panels I create myself)

25ml Floetrol

15ml paint

5ml 91% alcohol

A spray of silicone in each color then stirred.

For this recipe, I used these measurements for each color. The total amount of fluid was roughly 200ml or almost 1 cup of paint. Additionally, I added one last spray of silicone to the top of the dirty cup before flipping it over. I wanted this painting to have a TON of cells.

Recipe 2 – 10 inch circular panel. (These panels I also create and are available on my etsy page)

25ml Floetrol

15ml paint

5ml 91% alcohol

This recipe is fairly straight forward. One tip is to add your alcohol last as it will evaporate quickly. It also seems to work a little better if the paint is poured out rather than flipped. I like the look of ribbons and smaller cells. They tend to give more of a planetary look than a organism look.

In this video, I use Liquitex Soft Body Acrylics. These acrylics are smooth but not as fluid as Golden Fluid Acrylics. In each of the colors, I also added some Liquitex Basic Iridescent Medium. I was hoping there would be more effect in the final result, but this was not the case. I think it is better to use an iridescent paint to get the true effect.

Overall the paints were responsive and held up nicely when drying. The colors stayed fairly true. I think if I were forced to use these, I wouldn’t have a problem but overall I am not overly impressed to change from any other brand I may be using.

The pieces in the video are available for sale on my Etsy page. Please feel free to visit and find something that will support the YouTube channel.

This last week I was asked to come up with a few skateboard decks for a skate shop. Before I dove head first, I wanted to see how everything would work on a surface that is not necessarily flat. I documented how I did this, and I think it turned out pretty well. Still not sure if the weight of the resin will impact the ride but that will be phase two. Even though these are just going to be on display, you never know when you just have to carve out.

While I love the rich pigment of a Golden Fluid Acrylic, I have been asked numerous times about making fluid acrylic paints. So I started looking into it more and found a solution that might be helpful. In no way is this a replacement for something as professional as Golden’s Fluid Acrylics, it is a less expensive alternative.

I got the idea for this recipe while making ebru paintings with my kids. When you paint with water, you have to add a surfactant to the paint for it to glide across the top of the water. Usually, we add ox gall or photo flow to the paint to give it some move-ability. I also had a bottle of Golden’s Acrylic Flow Release which is a paint additive for water painting. Golden now called is Wetting Fluid and can be used to wet your canvas before applying paint. So without getting too wordy here is how I mixed my paint to create a simple fluid acrylic.

This is a mixture created by weight and volume.

Part ONE – Diluting the Acrylic Flow Release (Slippery Water)

16 oz Distilled water

0.5 oz Acrylic Flow Release or Photo Flo

Mix the ingredients carefully and let sit for at least 25 hours, so there is no sudden foaming. The Acrylic Flow Release is an irritant and should be handled carefully with proper protection.

Part TWO – Making the Fluid Acrylic

30g (by weight) medium bodied acrylic

20g Slippery Water

Slowly add the slippery water to the paint and mix well. Do not mix vigorously just make sure that all the solution incorporates in the paint. If this is done in 10g increments, you will get a smoother result. Add more slippery water as desired to get a more fluid color.

Store your fluid acrylic in an airtight container and use it for any number of applications. In the video attached I use this recipe to create a fluid acrylic pour on a wood panel using four different brands of medium-bodied paint.

I love to keep things pretty simple, and in this video, I show how to make a painting using only three ingredients and some nice shiny results.

For this type of art, I use a recipe that can be scaled up. I use this method on some larger pieces. Not only because the ingredients are better for a larger size but because the pouring medium is much less expensive.

The recipe for a small 6X6 is as follows:

25ml Floetrol

5 ml fluid acrylic paint

2 ml 91% alcohol.

When scaling the paints I back off on the alcohol if it tends to get a little too runny. This is something you’re going to need to adjust yourself. It is much like the amount of salt you like in your food. Additionally, you will want to add the iridescent pearl after you have mixed the paints. This acts as an additive and is not in the total amounts. The amount is up to you.

The products that I used in this video are listed below: – Also, if you’re using Golden’s fluid acrylic it is always better to buy larger quantities as the smaller sizes are much more expensive.

I have been asked a number of times in my YouTube comments to explain how I transfer an image to a painting. In this short video I go through all the steps I take to create such an effect. Its a simple process that takes some time but always very calming and relaxing.

Tonight my son James and I hung out and worked on his letter J. The kids are all really excited about hanging their own artwork on their walls and I am thrilled I get to do it with them. Just like the last two pours, we did a three cup pour for the letter J. The difference with this pour was that we used all primary colors to get a ton of mixed colors. The best part was changing up how much was in each cup to get more purples or oranges or greens. James had a great time and the piece is going to look great when it dries.

For the recipe we did the following in each cup:

2 ounces Flood Floetrol
10 mls of alcohol
20 mls of paint

The paints were added to three separate cups and then poured over the canvas. Very little was done to manipulate the panel. Below is a list of the ingredients we used:

After my girl Zoe and I painted her letter my oldest Whitney was ready to work on her letter. Just like the last pour with Zoe we did a three cup pour for the letter W. The results were pretty cool and as it dries we like it more an more. Once the piece has fully dried we will post images to this blog. So be sure to come back in a couple of days to see how it looks dried.

For the recipe we did the following in each cup:

2 ounces Flood Floetrol
10 mls of alcohol
20 mls of paint

The paints were added to three separate cups and then poured over the canvas. Very little was done to manipulate the panel. Below is a list of the ingredients we used:

Tonight my youngest Zoe and I found these cools panel letters and decided we would do one for her room. Because of the shape of the letter we decided to do a three cup dirty pour. The results were pretty cool and as it dries we like it more an more. Once the piece has fully dried we will post images to this blog. So be sure to come back in a couple of days to see how it looks dried.

For the recipe we did the following in each cup:

2 ounces Flood Floetrol
10 mls of alcohol
20 mls of paint

The paints were added to three separate cups and then poured over the canvas. Very little was done to manipulate the panel. Below is a list of the ingredients we used: